


Howard And The New Cap

by AlissaShawWrites



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 09:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15969581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlissaShawWrites/pseuds/AlissaShawWrites
Summary: The war against Thanos was already fought and lost but Tony and Steve had a plan. Time travel, Tesseracts, and Young Tony Stark. Only one man stood in their way; Howard Stark. Steve learns a lot more about Howard than he wanted to know but he ensured he got what he deserved on Tony's behalf.





	Howard And The New Cap

It had been a long day for Howard. A long and seemingly endless day. All was not well in the science world, at least not for him. He was falling behind in his study and research. Nothing was worthy of his time. He knew in his heart that he would never produce anything better than his soldier. His Captain America. 

No matter what amount of whiskey he put inside his body, he could never drown out the repetitive and droning voice inside his mind telling him that he was failing. Nothing else in his life mattered as he drowned himself in alcohol and longing to be more. He was going to be remembered; that he knew. But he still wanted more.

Just as he was pouring himself another glass; the ice long melted and swallowed away, he heard the doorbell ring. Growling over the rim of the glass, he went to see who dared disturb him at this time of the night. Even at midnight, he was being bothered, and whoever was behind it would be punished.

By the time he reached the foyer, he was too late. A man in an oddly familiar yet not familiar at all uniform had burst through the door, almost breaking it off its hinges. His face; much like the outfit, was a familiar one. The beard momentarily confused him but the eyes he knew. His Captain America was back.

“Rogers?” he asked; feeling all of his anger wash away. 

“I’m sorry, Howard. This is urgent and even in my current state, I need to hurry.”

“Come in.”

"No. No there are forces, bad forces at large. I know you won't understand fully, but I need you to listen carefully. I'm Steve but not now Steve. I'm from a long time in the future. I turned 100 in my year. There's a war. A war to end everything we know and love. Half," he cut himself off; looking for only a moment like he was about to cry. He cleared his throat. "Half of all existence has been wiped out. There's no way for us to move forward so we need to come back. There are things I need from you and Tony."

Howard scoffed. Up until the last word of Steve's spiel, he almost believed it. Time travel? Unlikely but not impossible. He had played with the idea himself and even lesser minds than his had come close. A war that wiped out half of existence? A stretch but hadn’t he lived through two world wars himself? It certainly made it on the list of possibilities. Those made sense. Steve Rogers coming back to seek his help? Obvious. But his son? Of what use would his son be to Captain America? 

“You come all the way back here for him? I understand how I can be of use but what good is he?”

"He's earth's best defender. He's the only chance we have to save the universe."

Now Howard knew it had to be a joke. He couldn’t hold back the laughter as the words echoed in his mind. Earth's best defender? His crying wimp of a son? It brought him to tears as his lungs began to strain from laughing. 

Steve; however, did not look impressed. In fact, he looked angry. "What are you laughing about, Howard? This is not a laughing matter."

"My son," he cried through his disgusting laughter. "Earth's- oh I can't even finish that sentence. Ridiculous."

Steves' fists were clenched now. "What is so wrong with that? Tony is one of the best men I've ever known. He's your son!"

“Listen,” Howard said more firmly. “I don’t know what the hell you’re pulling but get to the point. And you will not be talking to my son. I can assist you. He cannot.”

“But,” a small voice from behind Howard said, startling the two men. When they looked over; half hiding behind the rails on the staircase, was Tony himself. Maybe just nine or ten at the time. He was dressed in nightclothes but looked barely tired. Steve doubted he had even made it into his bed yet. Or maybe it was the excitement of what he was hearing. Nonetheless, he smiled. “I want to help!”

Steve smiled back at him; all anger towards Tony’s father fading. “Good to hear, Tony. You’re going to do so well.”

“Absolutely not! Tony! Get to bed!” Howard screamed, throwing his glass to the ground far too close to Tony’s feet. 

Tony jolted backwards, only being caught by the steps behind his back. “I-I’m sorry father,” he whimpered. “I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad at me!” 

Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing. Never had he ever imagined that Howard would act like this to anyone, let alone his own son. And to see Tony so small and vulnerable; it boiled Steves blood. He could barely see past the blood red in his eyes. He didn't consciously choose to do it but he was proud of his instincts at that moment. As soon as Howard turned back towards the super soldier, he threw the hardest punch he had ever thrown.

Howard was thrown back into the mess of whiskey and shattered glass. Barely able to scream between the shards entering his back and the blood flowing freely from his broken nose. He couldn’t tell if his jaw was broken, but he was fairly certain it was. 

The shock he felt turned quickly to fear as the man he created looked down on him with no remorse in his eyes. “You will never lay a hand on Tony or anyone again Howard. Do you understand me? I will find out and I will come back.”

“Y-Yes I understand!”

“Good. Now get out of my way, you son of a bitch. I need to talk to the only thing worth anything in your life. To our only hope for survival. To my best friend.” He raised his gaze to stare at the boy who was in just as much shock as his father. It wasn’t until Steve smiled and whispered, “Tony Stark,” did he begin to smile as well.

“How can I help?” Tony beamed excitedly.

Steve walked over and got down on his knees, ignoring the remains of the glass trying desperately to creep through his suit. He took both of Tony’s small hands in his and calmly explained, “someday when you’re a lot older, there’s going to be a man. A God named Loki. I can’t tell you anything major but I will say this; he is very important, just like you. He’s going to use a thing called a tesseract and we need it. There’s going to be a fight and you are going to hate him but he is- well; will be on our team. We’ll work out the details. All I need you to do is a month after your fight with him, we’re going to get the tesseract. We’ll be putting it in a very secure suitcase in a safety deposit box at your bank. It will be in your lockbox because you’re going to get one okay?”

Tony nodded, seemingly following along. It was almost comical the way he nodded his head with everything Steve said.

"Good. So after a month you go and pick that up. Don't tell anyone, not even me. I mean it, Tony. Not one person. And then; using the tesseract, we need you to build a weapon. Something strong. Something that harnesses the power of the Tesseract and uses it. Once you build it, hide it. I don't care where. Just somewhere no one can get to except you. You and only you."

“But what if I can’t build it?”

"You can. I know you can and you will. Then when it's time. You'll know when; use it. Use it and save us. Save everyone."

“I will.”

“Good boy. I’m so proud of you. You’re going to be an amazing man. I wish I could be here more for your childhood kiddo, but I’m glad I’m your friend. Remember that will you?”

“I will!” 

Tony threw his arms around Steve and he welcomed him. “You’re gonna do great. So you know the plan?”

“Yep!”

“And you’ll remember?”

“Yep!”

“Thank you. Now get to bed. You need some rest.”

Tony held on for a moment longer before letting go and running up the stairs screaming, “goodnight Mr. Rogers!”

“Goodnight,” he called back. Looking back at Howard, he sighed. “Treat him well. He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be. I’m just sorry it took this long for me to realize. No wonder Tony hates you.” 

He left without another word. With another sigh, he left the property and found the adult Tony Stark who had been waiting just outside of the lush garden. “How’d it go? I mean now that it happened, I can remember it which is pretty messed up, but how do you feel?”

“Pretty good. Do you remember making anything with the tesseract.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” The two men shared a relieved smile and hearty laugh. For once, it seemed like things were going their way. They stared back towards the alleyway to remain out of sight as they used their time machines. “Before we go,” Tony stopped before pressing the button. “I want to thank you. That really made my night. I’m old now so I guess I don’t remember it as well as I want to but I do remember you punching him square in the jaw. That meant a lot to me as a kid. Still does actually.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I idolized your father. I did it in front of you all these years.”

“Because I knew you were going to do this someday. And I knew how much he meant to you. He created you. I-I didn’t really want to take that from you.”

“You have to stop putting everyone else first, Tony. You deserve to be treated well. You deserve to think about yourself.”

“No, it’s alright. I had praise from Captain America to help me through when I felt down. Let’s get going.” Steve nodded happily. Just as he was about to send them back, Tony stopped him once again. “Wait! One more thing!”

“What?”

“Language! Captain America swore in front of a child tonight! What happened to the Steve Rogers I know?”

“Seriously Tony,” he rolled his eyes. “Forgive me for losing my temper on a child abuser.”

“No-no you’re going to hear about this from now on. You know how long I’ve had to wait to call you out on this? How many years I’ve known? No chance pal. I’m holding this against you.”

“Fuck.”

“Woah! Language! What’s wrong with you Cap? You’ve changed. I can’t believe my virgin ears have been tainted twice in one night by the rampant vulgarity of Captain America! I can’t-” he was finally cut off by Steve hitting the button so hard he almost broke it, sending them back to their own timeline. It; of course, didn’t stop Tony forever.


End file.
